Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description provided in this section is not itself prior art to the claims and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A typical cellular wireless network includes a number of base stations each radiating to define a respective coverage area in which user equipment devices (UEs) such as cell phones, tablet computers, tracking devices, embedded wireless modules, and other wirelessly equipped communication devices, can operate. In particular, each coverage area may operate on one or more carriers each defining a respective frequency bandwidth of coverage. In turn, each base station may be coupled with network infrastructure that provides connectivity with one or more transport networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internet for instance. With this arrangement, a UE within coverage of the network may engage in air interface communication with a base station and may thereby communicate via the base station with various remote network entities or with other UEs served by the base station.
Further, a cellular wireless network may operate in accordance with a particular air interface protocol (radio access technology), with communications from the base stations to UEs defining a downlink or forward link and communications from the UEs to the base stations defining an uplink or reverse link. Examples of existing air interface protocols include, without limitation, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) (e.g., 1×RTT and 1×EV-DO), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), among others. Each protocol may define its own procedures for registration of UEs, initiation of communications, handover between coverage areas, and other functions related to air interface communication.
When a UE operates in a cellular wireless network according to one or more such protocols, the UE may enable a user to engage in various forms of communication. By way of example, a UE may support traditional voice calls, advanced voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, and text messaging, among other forms of communication. Using any of these various forms of communication, the user could thus initiate or receive communications to or from one or more other users respectively of one or more other UEs.
Further, some UEs, such as smart phones for instance, may enable users to access Internet content and benefit from a seemingly limitless range of application programs and functions. Among these application programs, some application programs provide access to an online social network technology and may thus enable a user to engage in communications by way of the social network technology. For example, a social network technology may enable users to establish social network accounts and social network connections with others, providing a platform for users to conveniently post comments and other content and to view posted comments and content from their connected friends, family, colleagues, and others.